Friday, September 18, 2015

Boise State is set to resume one of the oldest rivalries in its history Friday when the Broncos host Idaho State. The Broncos and Bengals have tangled 30 times since 1968, a match up behind only Nevada and Idaho.

The two teams haven't met in five years, but started their rivalry in 1964. Bengal coach Mike Kramer took his team to the FCS playoffs a year ago, earning 2014 Big Sky Conference of the Year honors and finishing seventh in balloting for the Eddie Robinson Award (given annually to the nation's outstanding FCS coach) in the process.

ISU rushed for 2,567 yards and chalked up 6,744 yards and 64 touchdowns last season in rewriting school records in all of those categories.

Michael Sanders (6-3, 221) is a first-year starting quarterback, just as his counterpart Ryan Finley is. But while Finley has thrown just one touchdown pass, Sanders has already tossed seven--Sanders is 35-of-57 passing for 455 yards.

Sanders will be looking to a group of receivers led by senior Madison Mangum (6-2, 212), the brother of BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum. Madison has been on the receiving end of eight passes for 112 yards in two games. Josh Cook (6-3, 220), Hagen Graves (6-1, 179) and KW Williams (6-1, 212) will also be roaming the Bronco secondary looking for busted coverages.

The Bengals have averaged 279.5 yards through the air this season, and is probably their strength. They, however, are more than capable of running the ball, churning out 447 yards in two games (4.6 yards a game). Xavier Finney (6-3, 220), Jakori Ford (5-8, 185) and Braedon Mitchell (5-11, 223) will share the load in the ISU backfield.

Boise State fell last week to BYU in Provo 35-24 in a game in which the Broncos had 10-point leads twice in the fourth quarter but could not finish the Cougars off.

Finley completed 25-of-38 attempts last week for 297 yards and a touchdown, but also threw three interceptions. The Bengals have allowed just 94 passing yards per game so far.

Adding to Boise State's problems this week is the fact that the Bronco offensive line has not sustained blocks long enough to generate more than a meager ground game--Boise State ranks 11th out of 12 teams in the Mountain West in rushing. Junior college transfer Jake Pettit (6-3, 232) is proving to be a valuable addition to the Bengal defense. Pettit had 111 tackles, 14 for loss, three sacks, three forced fumbles and three pass breakups for Santa Barbara City College last season. Like Pettit, Hayden Stout (6-2, 230) also has 16 tackles this season for Idaho State.

The last time the Bengals won (1987) came a year after Boise State first installed their blue turf.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Jay Ajayi of Miami is on injured reserve until Week 6Richie Brockel was inactive in Carolina's win.Ryan Clady is out for the season after a torn ACLTyrone Crawford had three tackles and a sack in Dallas' winGeorge Iloka had two tackles, one solo, in Bengal winJeron Johnson did not have any statistics in Washington's lossDeMarcus Lawrence had three tackles in Cowboy winCharles Leno played as Chicago lost to Green BayDoug Martin rushed for 52 yards on 11 carries and caught a pass for two yards in Tampa Bay lossShea McClellin led the Chicago defense with eight tackles, four of them solo, in loss to Green BayKellen Moore was on the practice squad as Dallas wonCenter Matt Paradis started for Denver in Bronco winBlake Renaud is on the practice squad for Minnesota for Viking lossOrlando Scandrick is out for the season with a torn ACL for DallasJamar Taylor had six tackles, three of them solo, in Miami victoryKyle Wilson did not register any statistics in New Orleans loss to ArizonaBilly Winn was traded last Friday to Indianapolis and did not play in Colt loss.

The inherent bias in Sagarin is pretty easy to see. Sagarin himself shows Boise State's strength of schedule as one of the best in the nation after week one, and yet he ranks several teams ahead of the Broncos with a worse schedule.http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/

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About Me

I have been a fan of Boise State since 1968. In 1975, I won a national Quill & Scroll award for Best Feature Writing. I graduated from Boise State in 1986 with a B.B.A. in Management. Since that time, I have researched and published several articles about the Broncos and have helped to raise $200,000 for the school as well as to sell out season football tickets and various other projects.